Mining Muffins

This little activity with great educational value was part of our unit on Earth Sciences, where we examined mining techniques and looked at the two most commonly used techniques: underground mining and open-cut mining, each technique having its advantages and disadvantages.

The students worked in pairs, with one using the open-cut technique and the other, underground mining. After some local mining activity and discussion, we discovered that each technique had its benefits. In our experiment, open-cut mining generally proved to be more effective, as we obtained more chocolate chips/minerals, whilst underground mining seemed to do less damage to the muffin/environment.

In reality, the boys decided it did not matter which technique was the better option as long as you get to eat the muffin after it has been mined. The photos below show Ethan using the Open-cut mining method, while Dylan experimented with the Underground mining method.